


Into the Midnight Sun

by lunarknightz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death Fix, Dark Swan Arc, F/M, Flying Dutchman, Inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates of the Caribbean References, Post-Dark Swan Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 13:46:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5293421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarknightz/pseuds/lunarknightz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/U story from "Birth".</p>
<p>Saving Killian's life signs him up for a seven year hitch on The Flying Dutchman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Midnight Sun

**Author's Note:**

> (Loosely inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean as well as a bit of mythical folklore.)

In a flash, Emma transported them away from Granny’s, to the same field of flowers in Camelot where things had looked so bright, not so long ago. It was a place of serenity in the chaos of this realm; and Emma needed that now. It would take dark, dark, magic to save Killian. But was that too much to ask of true love?  

“Emma, no.” Killian protested.   

He knew what she was planning, even as he was slipping away….no, dying. 

_Of course he knew_. True love, even if they’d never had the chance to say it out loud. There was no doubt between them.

“But our future…” Emma cried. The perfect house. The white picket fence. The happily ever after. It would all be empty, without him.  

“I’ll be happy just knowing that you have one.” Killian said, struggling.  

“That’s not enough for me!”

  “There’s…a chance. I need the _Jolly Roger_. Can you get me back to Storybrooke?” 

  She did not hesitate. Emma drew upon her power- whether it was the power of the Dark One or of the Savior- she didn’t bother to contemplate. In a brilliant flash of light and a millisecond, they were back in Maine, in the captain’s quarters of the Jolly Roger. With the aid of magic, Emma lowered Killian onto his bed, as she stood right beside him.  

“There’s a key.” Killian withdrew a metal key from his pocket. His strength was waning with every moment, his words growing slow and heavy “It…opens the chest in the corner. Take out what’s inside and crush it…and take my heart and put it inside.”  

“Your heart? Killian…no.”  

“It’s better than the alternative…I can…live…without a heart…”

  Fighting back tears, Emma took the key and did as Killian instructed. Inside the chest was a withered grey piece of muscle- something that might have been, could have been…a heart? With only a little bit of pressure, it disintegrated into a pile of dust.

  With a sob, Emma took Killian’s heart from his body and put into the chest. For what seemed like an eternity, his body was still; until he jerked to life with one shuttering breath.  “Killian?”  

“I’m…I’m okay.” 

Emma leaned down and kissed him. He drew her down beside him, and their embrace grew deeper. Words were lost as they found their passion with one another. By the time for discussion came, the shadows of dusk were creeping outside in the Storybrooke Harbor, as nighttime descended upon the town.  

“So…” Emma said, as she rested her head against Killian’s bare chest. “We just have to find a way to get back to Camelot and get the rest of the group, and the flame, and we can get Merlin to help us beat this darkness for once and for all, right?”

  Killian kissed Emma’s forehead gently. “I wish it was that simple, love.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The words of the damn crocodile are sadly correct. Magic comes with a price. Magic saved my life.”  

“It can’t be as steep of a price as becoming a dark one.”  

“Aye, but perhaps a longer one. That life saving receptacle is Davy Jones’ chest.”

  “Davy Jones? Like the Monkee?” Emma sat up with a start.  

“Whoever brought primates into the discussion? Does this have something to do with that bloke that you were dating in New York? Hook shook his head. “Never mind.”  

“Tell me, Killian. I’m listening.” Emma said softly.  

“There is a ship that many sailors talk of but few have ever seen, called the _Flying Dutchman_. This is no ordinary ship, but a ghost ship doomed to never make port, but to sail the oceans forever. This ship ferries the souls of those who have died at sea to their eternal rest. The captain of the Dutchman is a soul who has done wrong in his lifetime but wishes to repent and make right. He’s alive in a way- his heart stays in this chest- a Dead Man’s chest, tying him to the ship.”

“Your heart is in that chest.”  

“Aye. You’re looking at the new captain of the _Flying Dutchman_.”  

“You’re tethered to a ghost ship. For eternity.” Emma’s words were cold and bitter. “I’m not seeing how this was a better option. I still lose you.”  

“There’s an escape clause.”  

“Escape clause?”  

“The captain of the Dutchman gets shore leave…every seven years. If he can find a woman that would love him and stay true to him for seven years…then he is freed from his role. It certainly isn’t ideal and I don’t want to be away from you, Emma. But we can still have our future. We just have to wait.”  

She was silent for a moment. “I really don’t want to wait.” Emma sighed. “I’m ready, so ready, to get rid of this darkness and I’m ready for a life with you, Killian. But I love you. And I’ll wait.”

Hook kissed her deeply.

  “When do you leave?”

  “Not until the morning.”  

Emma grinned up at him. “Then let’s not waste the night.”    
 _________________

 

 

“I’m leaving this with you.” Killian handed her the chest as they stood alone on the deck of the _Jolly Roger_. “It’s always been yours, Emma.”    
'  
“I’ll keep it safe.” She affirmed with a nod. “But can you explain something to me?”

  “Anything that I can.”  

“How did you get this chest in the first place?”

  “Davy Jones was my father. He gave it to me for safekeeping.”  

“When I crushed the heart….I killed your father?”  

“Emma, you saw the state of his heart. He was but a wretched ghost of a man long before the chest even came into my possession. He was a lost cause when he abandoned my brother and I. His heart was beating, but he wasn’t alive. You can’t kill a ghost.”  

“But…”

  “ _Emma_. When he gave me the chest, he told me that it would save my life one day. It was his way of giving me my best chance. This is no red mark in your ledger; but a debt paid by my father. Don't despair.”  

“That’s easier said than done, Killian. Seven years.”  

“It’ll go by quickly.”  

“Says the man who is hundreds of years old.”  

“Death cannot stop true love, Emma. Mine didn’t. It’s just…delayed it a little while.”  

An unnatural eerie green flash of light filled the harbor. When the light cleared, a huge warship sat at the edge of the harbor. The ship seemed almost otherworldly, as if it were made of mist and shadow rather than wood.  

“Is that…”  

“Aye.”   Carefully placing the chest to the side, Emma flung herself into Killian’s embrace. “I love you.”  

“I love you too.”

  He kissed her deeply; and in an instant, he was gone. As was the _Dutchman_.

 

   ________ 

 

 

_Seven Years Later_   

 

Seven years had passed by quickly. Life in Storybrooke was never boring. In seven years, she had renounced the darkness, saved her family more times than she’d like to admit, defeated countless villains and cooked at least 2 Thanksgiving dinners that weren’t a complete disaster. Hopefully the years had been kind, though Emma was certainly older, fighting off wrinkles and gray hairs that she didn’t want and tried her best to deny.

  Seven years had passed by slowly; especially in the moments when she was alone. Henry, who stood beside her on the docks right now, was no longer a child, but a man. People in Storybrooke had gotten married, others had more children- including her parents. It hurt, sometimes, to see people change and grow, when she felt trapped, placed on hold waiting for Killian.  

Today it did not matter if seven years had passed by slowly or quickly, because they were over. 

Emma felt jumpy, waiting for the green glow to flood the harbor and bring Killian back.   

She was not the only one who felt that way.  “Is it here _yet_?” A duo of curly black ponytails bobbed up and down. “Can you see him yet, Mommy?”

  “Soon, Willa.” Emma smiled down at her six year old daughter and squeezed her hand. 

Willa twirled around and grabbed her brother’s hand, too full of excitement at meeting her long promised father to stand still. 

“You’ll see your Dad soon.”

  “I can’t wait!” Willa exclaimed. “Is he gonna like me Henry?”

  “He’s going to love you.” Emma’s son said, squeezing his little sister’s hand. “How could he not?”

 The air in the harbor grew heavy, as if it was all charged by lightning. A green glow filled the harbor. When it cleared, Killian Jones stood in front of them, a free man.  

“Emma.”

 “Killian.”

They kissed, and for a second, it was as if time didn’t exist, as they were lost in their love and passion for one another.

The spell was broken by the giggles of a six year old and her nearly grown brother.

  “Daddy!” Willa cried. “Welcome home!”    


End file.
